1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a rechargeable battery and a module thereof, and more particularly, to a rechargeable battery and a module thereof that can prevent or reduce overcharge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large-capacity rechargeable battery may be used as a power supply for driving a motor of an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A large-capacity rechargeable battery is typically provided with a plurality of rechargeable batteries consisting of unit cells and is formed by connecting the unit cells to each other in series.
A large-capacity rechargeable battery may have a circular or a prismatic shape. The prismatic shape generally provides a better heat radiating performance than the circular shape. Therefore, the prismatic shape is more advantageous than the circular shape with respect to the aspect of safety against overcharge. As a result, circular rechargeable batteries are typically provided with a current interrupt device (CID) for interrupting current in overcharge, while prismatic rechargeable batteries are typically not provided with a CID.
However, recently, because the rechargeable battery adopted in the HEV, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and the electric vehicle is required to have high capacity, the size of the rechargeable battery may increase. In the case of the prismatic shape, a difference in heat radiation may be caused inside and outside of the unit cell due to an increase of a thickness thereof, such that safe charging may be difficult to provide.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.